Home Improvement Product Reviews

These are great- just be careful that too much filtration can OVERHEAT your heat and air units, May 21, 2009

By 

Michael L. Hanley – See all my reviews

  

These are great- just be careful that too much filtration can OVERHEAT your heat and air units

I was using the Filtrete dark blue 1500 rated filters and thought they were great. But eventually I found the air flow was less and less and then it almost stopped altogether. I had to call my Heat/ AC guys and they told me that if I used the higher rated filter (1500 or so, different for each system), the one that ‘stopped’ more allergens/ dust/ etc, that these high rated ones fill up quickly with all the gunk the catch, and that they can slow down the air flow so much that it may cause your heat/ AC machinery to overheat and damage itself.

He switched me to the red Filtretes- they are rated 1000 and not 1500. If you truly need higher levels of filtration, make sure your heat/ ac system can handle it, and maybe you have to change the filters more often (the really highly rated filters grab EVERYTHING so all the dust etc builds up much more quickly and could block the air flow entirely in less time than say the red 1000 ones. So stay as low as you can on the ratings, but if you have to block extra things like dust or mites or allergens, ask your heat/ AC guy to tell you which filter to use, knowing it will capture this much dust/mites/ allergens, and how often you have to change it. Hope that helped, and good luck

ps I myself am going to ask them if i can use the higher rated filters- say the 1500s- if i switch them out much more often. we’ll see.

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Try the Advanced Allergen filter if you have allergies or pets, February 12, 2008

By 

Paul Moskowitz (Yorktown, NY) – See all my reviews

  

  

My house uses forced air for heating. The disadvantage of such a system is that it distributes the dust in the air everywhere in the house. However, it is supposed to be possible to filter out the dust. Over the years, I have steadily increased the quality of the filter that I use for my forced air heating system. However, until now I have not noticed any obvious difference in my allergic reactions that seem to start with the heating season.

There are two cats in my house. I have read that cat dander, tiny flakes of cat skin shed by the cats, is five times smaller than household dust particles. It stays in the air much longer than ordinary dust before it settles. Because of its small size it requires a more efficient filter to get it out of the air.

Until this year, I have used of variety of filters with mixed results. However, this year, I started using the 3M Advanced Allergen Filters, the ones in the blue wrapper. These have a 3M Microparticle Performance Rating of 1500, but do not have a MERV rating listed. MERV stands for Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value and is a number from 1 to 12, produced from a test designed by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). A higher MERV rating indicates better filter performance. 3M uses particle data between 0.3 and 1.0 micron size to calculate a Microparticle Performance Rating or MPR. The higher the MPR, the better the filter. However, higher rated filters cost more.

Here are some of the Filtrete filters offered by 3M:
Dust & Pollen Filter, Microparticle Performance Rating 600,
MERV rating of 8
Micro Allergen Filter, Microparticle Performance Rating 1000,
MERV rating of 11
Ultra Allergen Filter, Microparticle Performance Rating 1250,
MERV rating of 11
Advanced Allegen Filter, Microparticle Performance Rating 1500,
MERV rating not available

The difference made by the Advanced filter was immediately obvious. My running nose stopped running. I assume that the new Advanced filters must be taking out more of the dust in the air including the cat dander. I have not noticed a change in the speed of the circulated air. The additional cost of the Advanced filter is worth it if you have allergies or pets. However, if you are happy with a lower-rated and lower-cost filter, then you can continue using that one. I suggest that you check Amazon and vendors on the web to get the best price.

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Funtions as expected, September 24, 2007

By 

Timothy Evans “evansomd.com” (Washington, DC) – See all my reviews

  

This 6-pack is a very economical (cheap) way of buying filters. Especially because Lowes & Home Depot did not have my size (14×30) in stock. I got the medium-quality filtrete micro allergen because I wanted good filtration, but not the most expensive. They are perfectly suitable, with an indication of which side should face the intake, and how often they should be replaced (3 months). I’m happy

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